Chapter 6 - Sophia Had Warned Nathan Before
Sophia’s letter was not an accusation. It was worse for Nathan because
it was honest.
She wrote that Richard appeared to be altering internal project
valuations for outside investors.
She had raised concerns with Nathan once.
Nathan remembered dismissing them.
“Richard understands the company better than anyone except me,” he had
told her.
Sophia stopped arguing and investigated quietly.
Her letter said:
I should have pushed harder. You should have listened sooner. Both can
be true.
Nathan lowered the page.
Sophia had placed the shares in Emma’s trust to ensure independent
representation if Westbridge ever became entangled in litigation.
She ended with one warning:
If Richard returns, do not turn Emma into the battlefield.
Nathan covered his face.
Richard and Claire had already done exactly that.
Behind the letter was a copy of a $250,000 check from Ashford Consulting
to Richard Vale.
Ashford had belonged to Nathan’s father, Charles Bennett.
Nathan stared at the date.
Six years earlier.
“What was my father paying Richard for?”
Before anyone could answer, police recovered the missing red case.
It was inside Claire’s car.
Claire claimed Richard put it there.
Gas-station footage partly supported her story.
But the case was empty.
Except for a photograph of Nathan, Charles, and Richard at Westbridge’s
first groundbreaking.
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Someone had written on the back:
ASK NATHAN WHO REALLY OWNED THE LAND.
